Building the Walls of Constantinople 

Just the mere sight of the number 1453 is enough to put me in a sombre state of mind.

Ha ha Christian world will be overrun by immigrants ha ha 😂

​@@canchero724i love seeing that number 😅

@@canchero724 Roma aşıgimisiniz

@@canchero724 Bende 1683 Sayisini

Because they were really well designed, but also Constantine picked the place that was naturally well defended. Given the size of these walls, I feel sorry for soldiers that had to try to take them - mission impossible

It wasn't the guns that made the difference, it was the sorry state of Byzantine Empire, lack of resources and manpower. Medieval style walls were still effective defences well into the 17th and 18th century, especially against the Ottomans.

The Theodosian Land Walls were an amazing gift to the next 1,000 years of Roman history.

Didn't hold that well against the Franks, did they ? And those didn't have gunpowder, so no excuse.

It wasn't gunpowder that brought Constantinople down. It was a steady decline caused by political and trade isolation with the rest of the Christian west and near constant warfare for the last few hundred years. But to list one event as the thing that brought The Great City to disaster was leaving the circus gate open allowing the Ottoman hoard through the walls.

The full version of the verse is even more epic: "The spider weaves the curtains in the palace of the Caesars; The owl keeps watch in the towers of Afrasiab." It's a verse from the Shahname, the Persian equivalent of the Iliad, an epic highly popular among the Ottoman sultans.

And the entirety of Roman civilization

He should have let his innocent people leave without harm. But I respect him for his act.

The walls that stood for a millennium. No great city in human history was tougher to break than Constantinople.

I know, right? It really sounds as if they very nearly won. If only they’d had more help from the west.

The West did help, the Ottoman ranks where filled with Slavic mercenaries.

@@xmaniac99 the engineer who made the cannon to bring down the wall was Hungarian too. Without European help, the Ottomans probably couldn't have done it in the manner they did.

@@JRLeemanYes. The West in the form of crusaders and Venetians helped destroy the eastern Empire.

why does it shrink?

@@thedudefromrobloxx when it's not used anymore, it's a good idea to brick up a huge gate, so it doesn't erode and eventually falls down. any epic doors made out of wood and / or bronze would have been plundered long ago anyway

This was the ruler. Like any "good" (as in competent, not moral) politician, even to this day, they ignore the facts, if gets in the way of a good speech.

athena about to challenge him to a wall-building competition...

He did say *scarcely*

Taking to your dog about Rome before, or after, he licks his own ass?

Best wishes to your dog. Maybe he should not tie his self-worth to the fate of ancient empires.

Po' doggie - toss him a bone and tell him it's an ancient relic of better byzantine times...

It's deeply regretted that another Emperor named Napoleon made the mistake to refuse Russia offer to retake Constantinople from the Ottomans in 1808

Dont worry, my cat has gone through the same, thats why i decided to review the history of Egypt to remind him of the good old times a bit and cherr him up

The Ottomans were by far the longest lasting Islamic dynasty, so I think it's the best working system for their monarchy. It someone maintained a steady flow of the most ruthless prince almost always making his way to the top.

Alexander was an icon among many muslim-Turkic rulers such as Alaaddin Muhammad II, Selim the Grim, & Alauddin Khalji who were familiar with the title "Sikandari Sani" (The Second Alexander)

Thank you for reminding me to send my friend a Rebecca black gif

I taught English to university and high school students in Istanbul for 4 years and parts of the wall were along my metrobus commute to work. I may have had 2 or 3 day trips with friends to visit different parts of the wall, but it wasn't hardset destination for me compared to other historical sites. Some areas of the wall are in some pretty rough neighborhoods and not a good idea for a foreigner to go alone. That 1453 Panorama museum is kinda cringe but guess its fun too. I recommend the Military Museum in Harbiye (near Taxim) for much better historical exhibits.

@@juniorjames7076 as acitizen of Istanbul i recommend istanbul Archaeological Museums it was better experience for me than the hagia, topkapi palace or other things in there.

@Om.BaverYldz The Naval Museum in Besiktaz is also good!

How can someone be patriotic and proud of stealing?

Frfr

Me too. Greets

What does the quote mean? Hard to understand

they look better in person

And that’s how termites came into existence

They stood for a thousand years. You can't really ask for more than that.

@@cartesian_doubt6230 I meant more along the lines of it being a bad idea for someone to challenge the gods in greek/roman mythology. Athena would probably turn him into some sort of plant or insect or something lmao.

​@@NandeadstudiosIt's A Hellenism Not "Greco-Roman Mythology" THIS IS READ TO ROMAN AND GREEK RELIGION'S NAMES IN HISTORY.

@@adamk.7177 or some shitty Turk traffic noises and fumes right nearby an intensely important world heritage site

@Matt just like the shitty Italian traffic noises and fumes. It's almost like the problem is the car, not any particular ethnic group.

@@Matt67012you know that it’s not an amusement park but actual city with ppl living inside right? My boy expects everyone to stop their life just for him to experience an authentic moment lmao

Haha i am turk , i live in Leodikya

It's ironic that the supposed"allies" of the Romans did more damage than the "barbarians". The Fourth Crusade was one of the greatest crimes in history, absolutely tragic. Imagine walking through a perfectly preserved ancient Roman city!

"I would rather see a Turkish turban in the midst of the City (i.e., Constantinople) than the Latin mitre."

​@@precariousworlds3029 It's one of those events in history that really bothers me. It could have very easily NOT happened, but several events led to this disaster: namely the slaughtering of Venetian traders in 1182 or "Massacre Of The Latins". To me, it's sort of a matter of 'so-close yet so far' in terms of getting a Roman city in the modern day. 1204 is much closer than 476 AD... Not that Rome was put into a ruinous state at that point, it was gradual there with many buildings getting robbed for building material and the several earthquakes - but one singular event essentially destroyed the beauty of Constantinople. We are lucky to have Hagia Sophia with all or almost all its interior marble intact. I thoroughly believe that if the city survived intact into the Renaissance, Neo-Classical architecture and statuary would be different, and surely more authentic. Not that what was built isn't beautiful and should have been done differently, but it's an interesting thing to consider. The closest thing you can see to what Constantinople 'was' is Venice, St. Mark's of course... The Venetians alone I imagine would have destroyed less and taken more to decorate their city, but the rest of the crusaders couldn't have cared less.,,

I think the Massacre of the Latins had little to do with the ulterior Sack because the City had been in Venetia's plans for some time. Maybe Enrico Dandolo the Blind had some relative who died in that Massacre but nevertheless he was a greedy politician and the French Nobility a bunch of greedy people too (lands, titles and name). Sad sad event.

INB4 far right idiots in the comments lamenting the fall of Europe 🤣🤣

Kinda sad that if this was in Europe still those walls and gates would be immaculately attended to and culturally and legally protected, like City of Rome.

@@Matt67012 if this was Europe, the walls and gates likely would have been destroyed long ago to make way for medieval castles or 17th-century star forts. Everybody knows that outside of Italy, the best-preserved stuff from Greco-Roman antiquity is in Muslim or formerly Muslim lands: Turkey, Greece, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, and the Levant all still have amazing stuff--and they would have even MORE stuff, like the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus and the original Parthenon, if invading Europeans hadn't pulled stuff down to make fortresses in the case of the former or just bombed it outright in the case of the latter. Even when Europeans DID start to care about archaeology, their initial attempts at excavations/trophy hunting deleted thousands of years of things we could have learned about, as they wrecked the strata of countless important sites, e.g. Athens and Troy. I'm not claiming that Africa and Asia were always saints about preserving architecture from antiquity. And it's VERY true that modern Turkey today needs to do a whole lot better about preserving their cultural treasures. But acting like Europe is the protector of ancient architectural treasures is kinda racist and ahistoric.

@@Matt67012 They're still geographically in Europe, but I get what you mean - if a European nation had control over them they'd be much better preserved.

You both are wrong. İt was your so loved Europen, catholic friends that ruined the City. When they occupyed the City, they stole all beatuies, even brass metal pieces that covered the golden gate and the obelisk. (They were so stupid that thougt them gold) beatiful horse statutes of the hippoddrom the took with them to Venice. They even partied in Hagia Sofia with prostitutes

@@Matt67012 Rome is an exception. There are tons of preserved sites and buildings Istanbul whilst nearly nothing in London from that era. The rule of thumb is, if the city has been continually inhabited, there isn't much left, if it was abandoned (like Ephesus) lots to find.

Why do Greeks still get mad about it? You guys have a beautiful country 😅

​@@n00b_n00b_because Istanbul is still the most beautiful city in the Mediterranean

@@eons8941 nah, we Turks kinda fucked it over lol

@@n00b_n00b_ I mean, at least you're honest about it. I'm also Greek by the way.

Tbh, you should be glad the Turks took over the city. If it were the Franks......... yeah the city probably would cease to exist.

Tbh i am i impressed with the effort that the Turkish have taken in preserving the archeological record in their nation.

​@xmaniac99 Tourism is one of the main reasons people even think about Turkey. Doing anything else but taking care of historical ruins would be unwise.

@@xmaniac99 eh its not great. A lot of the wall was left to fall into ruin, but with other sites the government has been much more careless.

Nowadays there is a part of the wall you can stand on, walk a around a little with boards in English/Turkish explaining what is what. Sadly this is only a small part, the majority of the wall is used by addicts and drunks

They keep vandalizing everything even as we speak. Last year they even vandalized the imperial door of Hagia Sophia, which stands as symbol of the Greek Orthodox religion (as important to it as Mekka is to Islam), and a World Heritage site. They respect nothing, and I dont mean all the Turks, no... but there're so many to show zero respect, indeed total contempt for the history prior to their appearance in the history of this region, such scorn to the history that belongs to others and not to them, that endangers a vast amount of historical sites even as we speak.

Nah, he was a savage. He dreamed of glory, and invading Christian lands was the only thing "glorius" he could think of. Even his father on his death bed vowed to curse him if he decides to invade Constantinople as his father established a good relationship between the romans and turks. Alas, the savage in him still won.

I couldn't agree more!

My granny could scrap better than that

There is no such person as Hasan from Ulubat in the historical records. It's just a good urban legend.

Deeply appreciated!